Every book, in minutes.
Reading Time Calculator
Enter a book’s length and your reading speed to see how long it takes to read, and when you’ll finish with the minutes you have each day.
Your book. Your speed.
01 / ESTIMATEHow long is this book, really?
Add the length and your reading speed.
Your reading time and finish date will appear here.
This estimate is out of date. Recalculate to update it.
Your book, in minutes.
- Reading time
- Reading sessions
- Finish date
If you read longer each day
| Per day | Sessions | Finish date |
|---|
At other reading speeds
| Speed | Reading time | Finish date |
|---|
Need a page target for every date? The Pages Per Day Calculator turns a finish date into a dated, printable schedule with page ranges for each session.
Your next step
Turn the minutes into a reading habit
Your estimate stays here; it doesn’t transfer. In Storey you track one thing: sitting down to read on your reading days.
- Add “Read 30 minutes” with a goal of 7 days a week.
- Check it off after each session to light a window.
- Keep every reading day and the building gains a storey.
Track 5 habits free · Optional Pro subscription · iPhone & Android
Words, minutes, sessions
How to calculate reading time
Reading time is the number of words in a book divided by your reading speed in words per minute. If you only know the page count, multiply it by the words on a page first: a 300-page book at 250 words a page holds about 75,000 words.
At an average 238 words per minute, those 75,000 words take 315 minutes, or 5 hours and 15 minutes. This calculator does the same arithmetic, then divides the time into sessions of the length you choose, on the days you choose, and dates the last one.
It is an estimate, not a promise. Difficult chapters, footnotes and a tired evening all slow you down. For help making room for the sessions, read the guide to building a reading habit. If you already have a deadline, the Pages Per Day Calculator works backwards from it.
Three quick estimates.
hours for a 300-page book
300 pages × 250 words = 75,000 words. At 238 words per minute, that is 315 minutes.
pages an hour
At 238 words per minute and 250 words a page, one hour of reading covers about 57 pages.
books a year at 20 minutes a day
Twenty minutes a day for a year is 7,300 minutes: about 1.7 million words at 238 words per minute, or roughly 23 books of 300 pages.
How long does it take to read a book?
| Book length | Words, at 250 a page | Reading time, at 238 words per minute | At 30 minutes a day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 pages | 25,000 | 1 h 45 min | 4 days |
| 200 pages | 50,000 | 3 h 30 min | 7 days |
| 300 pages | 75,000 | 5 h 15 min | 11 days |
| 400 pages | 100,000 | 7 h | 14 days |
| 500 pages | 125,000 | 8 h 45 min | 18 days |
| 800 pages | 200,000 | 14 h | 28 days |
Rounded to the nearest minute. Days assume one 30-minute session every day.
What is the average reading speed?
A 2019 meta-analysis of 190 studies and more than 18,000 readers put the average silent reading speed for adults reading English at 238 words per minute for non-fiction and 260 for fiction. Reading aloud is slower, at about 183 words per minute.1
Your own speed depends on the text. A new subject, a second language or a dense argument will be slower than a novel you can’t put down. That is why the timer above measures you on the book you are actually reading.
Reading much faster rarely comes free. A 2016 review of the research on speed reading found that big gains in speed come at the cost of understanding.2 For a reading habit, a steady session on your reading days matters more than a faster pace.
The speeds here are for English text. For other languages and scripts, time one page with the timer: it measures your own pace, in your own book.
How many words are on a page?
A typical paperback page holds roughly 250 to 300 words. Large print and children’s books hold far fewer; textbooks and dense non-fiction often hold more.
To check your book, count the words in three full lines, divide by three, and multiply by the number of lines on a page. An e-book’s listing or the publisher’s page often gives the total word count, which you can enter directly with the Words option.
The words-per-page figure only converts pages into words. If you measure your speed with the timer, use the same figure for both and the estimate stays consistent.
A few practical questions
How long does it take to read a 300-page book?
About 5 hours and 15 minutes at an average 238 words per minute, assuming 250 words per page. At 30 minutes a day, that is 11 reading sessions.
What is the average reading speed?
Adults reading English silently average 238 words per minute for non-fiction and 260 for fiction, according to a 2019 meta-analysis of 190 studies. Reading aloud averages 183 words per minute.
How many pages can you read in an hour?
About 57 pages at 238 words per minute and 250 words per page. Faster readers and lighter pages mean more; dense text means fewer.
How many words are on a page?
Roughly 250 to 300 on a typical paperback page. To estimate your own book, count the words in three full lines, divide by three, and multiply by the number of lines on a page.
How do I measure my reading speed?
Open “Measure your own speed,” press Start, read one full page of your book at your normal pace, then press Done. The calculator divides the words on that page by the time it took.
Does reading faster mean understanding less?
Usually, past a point. A 2016 review of speed-reading research found that large gains in speed come at the cost of comprehension. For a reading habit, a steady daily session matters more than a faster pace.
Sources
- Brysbaert, M. (2019). “How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate.” Journal of Memory and Language, 109, 104047. doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2019.104047
- Rayner, K., Schotter, E. R., Masson, M. E. J., Potter, M. C., & Treiman, R. (2016). “So Much to Read, So Little Time: How Do We Read, and Can Speed Reading Help?” Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 17(1), 4–34. doi.org/10.1177/1529100615623267